Northern Ireland to launch gay equality law

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Further to the Gay Equality Law due in April 2007, if a ‘conscience’ exemption is included, anybody would then be able to refuse goods and services to LGBT people simply by saying that they have a religious belief. There should be no exceptions.

The real issue is not hotels holidays etc…The real issue is service provision, Health Housing are the main issues. We have a health service that has marginalised Lesbians Gays for decades and the housing needs of all LGBT people are almost totally ignored by Housing associations. The need for this legislation is real but even then it will only be a start. Attitudes will only change when the law is used well against the bastions of bigotry. Emma

What’s Ruth Kelly going to do now?The reson the Roman Catholic Church has got such a problum with us, is because about 95% of there clergy men are closeted gays and the Roman Catholic Church find’s it unacceptable to have to engage with our community because the pressure of engagement will increase the incidences of clergy men playing with boys.This is the real reason the Roman Catholic Church cannot and will not engage with our community, because it will destroy them.

So the Smirking Donaldson has opened his gob following in the tracks of bigot gobshite and bogus clergyman,Paisley.The problem with the DUP/UVF is that they have extorted billions of pounds from the English taxpayer and Whitehall to featherbed the alleged protestant community in Northern Ireland.They have the best public housing in the UK,the best NHS services (without any private practice in NI) and with most of the population working in unproductive government services.The per capita public expenditure is 2.5 times that for England Wales.The per capita GDP is less than 50% of the figure for England Wales.That is why they have so much time and energy for creating sectarian strife and attacking anyone who is not a bowler-hatted ,orange-sashed and Crombie-coated bigot goon.Simply they have nothing else to do and they get loads of money from the rest of us to do it with.Otherwise they will blast the centres of London and Manchester again and God knows where else in England Wales.We must reflect on the fact that whatever rights the Gay Community has won over the last few decades ,it has been by patient argument not by recourse to the bullet and the bomb typical of these bible-punching bigots.

“If a teacher teaches orthodoxChristian belief that homosexual practice is sinful, then a pupil who self-identifies as being gay could make a claim for harassment, claiming it has had the effect of violating their dignity or of creating an intimidatory, humiliating or offensive environment. Good, and so they should have the right as a gay pupil to do this.

ps forgot to add. I was born gay . No one is born Catholic, Jewish or any other faith. It is taught and a choice. Gay rights, as a birth right should proceed christian or any chain of thought rights before anything else. You can not say to a white hetrosexual male , that any belief proceeds him as a person, as a race, as a gender, as a sexuality.So they should not do the same to a black/chinese/white etc lesbian. You cant change what mother nature has made. But you can change you mind.

The church is not demanding that you dismiss mother nature and instead believe in Jesus – but we are asking that you respect our right to likewise choose whether or not to believe in Him and The Bible.

I have four MLA’s in my area,2 DUP,1UUP,and 1 Alliance. The Alliance party were the only ones to vote against the DUP motion. It seems utter madness for a party to argue for ‘special interest’ exemptions, based on their right to discriminate against sexual orientation, they must realise that the greater majority will see this for the inherent homophobia that it is. Why should one section, due to their biblical beliefs be allowed to deny another section of the community fundamental rights. Sad as it is but only through compliance have we managed to give rights over the years to women, ethnic minorities and now gay men and women….Our society has given protection to religious minorities for so long and yet they would deny it to us!

Well,my heart goes out to Stonewall and the uphill battle they wage….when I look at the Chris Geary website and how clearly it paints the gay male community as promiscuous sex addicts obsessed with having a “buff” body and watching “finger-up-the-bum” porno, no wonder the Christian Institute gets £1,200,000 to build yet another new HQ.What could Stonewall do with this kind of money? But all the tossers shaking their butts in the clubs aren’t interested….for the rest of us – just about good-looking enuf to capture one heart and stick to each other through thick and thin ..the best way forward is simply to join your local Congregation….you won’t get preached at especially in the Church of England …on the contrary you’ll get a very warm welcome..familiarity breeds reassurance.But acceptance brings responsibilty….My experience is that give it another few years and very few of the Anglican Clergy will be disposed NOT to give a gay couple a blessing when they have legally registered.Some clergy are realising that there are thousands of gay people who would rejoice in and cherish acceptance by the Church and there is an opportunity to bring gay men and women into the body of the Church at a time when congregations are falling.I made the move and have been welcomed with open arms and zero suspicion..when the Bishop blessed me at 63 years of age at my confirmation into the Church of England – he didn’t even feel for the horn-buds on my head!The poor benighted bigots are making a lot of noise but they are hurting the Church more than they are ever protecting it.They are poor creatures bent on creating division with silly interpretations of Leviticus and the like.I just pray for Rowan Williams in the difficult path he has to tread but time is on our side though we need to flex our muscles.Politicians and the Church are realising that there are 3,500,000 adult gay men and woman in the UK electorate.A voting block that size decides the outcome of a General Election. So drop an e-mail to your MP telling him how you feel about the Equality Legislation and that you expect him to support protection under the law for gay people.

Homosexuality is sex discrimination. A gay man will ALWAYS exclude a woman, when it come to ‘love’, simply because she is physically different!In contrast, Jesus required sex equality and diversity in marriage in Matthew 19.

If you read the last post and the homepage link. It infers that being gay is a choice. Of course I was born gay. But if you really believe in your theory, and you except that homosexualiy is a choice, that means that all hetrosexuals choose to be straight.I like said in a previous post, taking in to account ying and yang, then surely this means were all born bisexual?

No religious denomination or faith based organisation should be exempt, no matter the belief system. Discrimination is discrimination no matter one’s creed. Last time I checked the new testament, I saw no reference to Jesus Christ judging anyone, so how can [they] call themselves “Christians”? What ever happened to “judge not and ye shall not be judged”? Religion is nothing more than a front for bigotry. Robert, NYC, USA (ex-pat. Brit)

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